Freeview EPG-Anyone know what channel sends the guide data? (1 Viewer)

technoweary

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    Hi Everyone, hope you are all well
    I am setting up MediaPortal1 in Hastings where there is DVB-T only
    I had absolutely no success getting any EPG from selecting the main broadcasters, (BBC/ITV etc), in the setup so in frustration I selected all channels
    After about 30 minutes the Hard Drive went into mad thrashing mode and I got a full EPG
    Obviously just selecting ALL channels is not the "Correct" way of doing it so I am guessing its a case of poor signal strength that may have caused the delay in getting the EPG
    Now that I know the EPG data is there in some channel, and will be grabbed eventually, all I need to know now is which channel has the EPG data?
    If anyone knows I would appreciate the advice?
    Regards
    TW
     

    CyberSimian

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    all I need to know now is which channel has the EPG data?
    For DVB-T/T2 in the UK, all MUXes carry the EPG for all channels, but not identically -- each MUX has an EPG datastream that carries a different combination of programme info.

    Some MUXes prefer their own channels. So if you tune to one of those MUXes, their channels in the EPG will populate more quickly than channels in other MUXes, but if you wait long enough all channels will populate.

    The most agnostic MUX is the BBC one -- it splits the EPG carrying capacity "fairly" among all of the MUXes. So this is the MUX to use for grabbing the EPG.

    The correct advice is to select one channel for EPG grabbing, and only one channel. From the preceding, the channel to choose is one of: "BBC1", "BBC2", "BBC1 HD", or "BBC2 HD". Here are a couple of posts that give details:
    EPG for DVB-T not working
    TV Not Recording

    I don't know why there seemed to be a delay when you tried this originally. If you have the "refresh interval" set for (say) two hours, TV Server won't grab the EPG more frequently than once every two hours. A way to force an immediate EPG grab is to use the "Refresh EPG" button in "TV Server Config". That deletes the existing EPG and then immediately starts grabbing a fresh EPG (but only if you are not using any of the tuners to watch or record TV or radio).

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    technoweary

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    Hi CyberSimian
    Very good to hear from you again, I hope you are well
    Thank you for the info on the EPG
    I'm thinking that the actual TV signal strength is very low. I notice the HD freeview is breaking up in bad weather
    There is not much that can be done as they have a good aerial installed
    I will recommend a Freesat dish as the Media Centre has got a dual card
    Thanks again for the information, very much appreciated
    Cheers
    TW
     

    CyberSimian

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    I'm thinking that the actual TV signal strength is very low. I notice the HD freeview is breaking up in bad weather
    In the UK there are three MUXes that transmit HD (which means DVB-T2 instead of DVB-T). However, only one of these MUXes is broadcast at "full strength"; the other two MUXes are broadcast at "barely receivable" strength.

    Example: I receive signals from the Rowridge transmitter, which has:

    (1) Three MUXes broadcasting at 200 kW power.
    (2) Three MUXes broadcasting at 50 kW power.
    (3) Three MUXes broadcasting at 20 kW power.

    Using my TBS-6284 quad-tuner card, I can receive (1) and (2) reliably, but (3) is mostly unwatchable. Using my Pinnacle 2000i dual-tuner card, I can receive (1), but (2) and (3) are nowhere to be found (the Pinnacle tuners are significantly less sensitive than the TBS tuners).

    Unfortunately, only one of the HD MUXes resides in group (1). The other two HD MUXes reside in group (3). Consequently, I have given up trying to watch the channels in group (3).

    The channels in the group (1) MUX include the five public-service HD channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Four, Five). The channels in group (3) are the other HD channels (BBC4, BBC News, CBeebies, Four+1, 4Seven, RT, QVC), plus various minor SD channels.

    The broadcast powers of the various MUXes will be different at your location, but the common characteristic is that the two HD MUXes that are in my group (3) are low power everywhere, and most people have difficulty receiving them. Also note that these two MUXes will be discontinued in perhaps one to two years, which is why I am not going to spend any money improving my aerial system.

    If you can receive the five public-service HD channels with watchable quality, that is probably about the best that you can expect using terrestrial.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    technoweary

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    Thanks for that
    I have reset the EPG grabber and currently going through the main channels one at a time with the idle time setting at 1 minute
    So far no EPG but I know it's in there somewhere and I have to find it!
    Cheers
    TW
     

    technoweary

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    Hello everyone, hope you are all well as we go into 2020
    The problems with the Freesat EPG were eventually sorted out so I can confirm the EPG grabber works well, but unfortunately I think the main problem is a lack of decent DVB-T signal at the location, And this prompted me to install a dish with the idea to go back to DVB-S
    Unfortunately it's been a few years since I used DVB-S and in that time the "Freview Info" EPG channel seems to be no more? Consequentially I'm enjoying superb signal and HD quality but no EPG

    Does anyone know where the EPG is provided on Freesat?

    Thinking the DVB-S channels have the EPG I tried grabbing from BBC without success. I wonder if the Freesat boxes get the EPG via the internet connection. According to King Of Sat the Freeview EPG channel is still up but when I try to scan it I get nothing
    Any help or suggestions would be most appreciated
    TW
     

    CyberSimian

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    Does anyone know where the EPG is provided on Freesat?
    I have never used satellite TV, but I believe that for FreeSat there is a radio channel that contains the EPG for both TV and radio. Look at the list of radio channels, and see if you can find one with a name that suggests it is the EPG channel (something like "FreeSat Info" perhaps?). You need to enable that channel for reception.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    technoweary

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    Hi CyberSimian, thanks for your response
    The Freesat Info is the channel that I remember, it was definately in the channels last time I was using DVB-S
    KingOfSat lists it at 11425H but there is nothing there when I scan it
    I am at a bit of a loss now and wondering if the Freesat boxes get the EPG via the network connection. On the Freesat box it gets a full EPG on the initial setup
    Cheers
    TW
     

    CyberSimian

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    there is nothing there when I scan it
    I am not sure what you mean by this :confused:.

    (1) If you have scanned for channels using a satellite tuner in your HTPC, the list of TV channels and list of radio channels should be populated. This means that the TV Epg grabber panel will show a list of the TV channels found, and the Radio Epg grabber panel will show a list of the radio channels found. Click the preceding links to see examples of these panels in the Wiki.

    (2) Look at the list of radio channels on the "Radio Epg grabber" panel to find the channel called "FreeSat Info". Then put a tick mark for that channel only in the column called Grab EPG for these channels. In this context, it actually means "Grab EPG from these channels". So you are going to grab the EPG from only one channel (the "FreeSat Info" radio channel). Check that all other radio channels are deselected.

    (3) At the top of the "Radio Epg grabber" panel, deselect the setting Store data only for selected channels.

    (4) On the "TV Epg grabber" panel, deselect all channels (you are not going to use any of them to grab the EPG).

    (5) On the DVB EPG panel, deselect the setting Grab EPG only for channels on the same transponder.

    (6) On the "DVB EPG" panel, select the setting for EPG grabbing while idle, with whatever timeouts you prefer. The EPG grabbing while timeshifting/recording may or may not work for satellite (I don't know).

    (7) Go to Manual Control and click Refresh DVB EPG to test that the setup is correct. It may take 10-20 minutes to refresh the EPG. With the settings that I have suggested, you must stop watching or recording TV using MP while the EPG refreshes. But normally MP will please itself when it refreshes the EPG, and will not interfere with watching or recording TV (EPG grabbing is lowest priority).

    Hmm, the above is all guesswork, so let us hope that it is correct. :eek:

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    technoweary

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    Hi CyberSimian,
    Yes, all understood
    I reckon I have the EPG setup under my belt now, but, the problem is that the Freesat Info channel is not there?
    It used to be there about 6 months ago but now there's no sign of it
    That's why I did a single transponder scan under advanced in the TV tuners to see if I could fish it in but it got nothing
    As I said, KingOfSat says its there and gives the frequency etc but the scan does not find it
    I'm stumped now and was hoping someone would respond to say they have the Freesat Info or not
    Thanks for your help, very much appreciated
    Regards
    TW
     

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